For sale: a top-of-the-range Japanese bass from the late 1970s - the Greco GOB 900 “Speed Way”. A rare version with a brown finish, white pickups and a multi-piece bridge.

Although at first glance it resembles an Ibanez Musician (both were manufactured at Fujigen during the same period), the GOB 900 is a completely different beast: passive, equipped with two humbuckers, lighter, with an even flatter but wider (42 mm) and slightly asymmetrical neck. It shares the build quality and materials used with its more famous cousin: from beautiful wood (ash, tiger maple, walnut) to a brass and bone nut. In one of the photos, a comparison with my MC924.

Despite its passive nature, the 900 has plenty of tonal possibilities - it features a pickup selector switch, master volume, 2x tone controls, and a series/parallel switch for each pickup. So you can dial in both a rich, humbucker-style growl and a glassy tone reminiscent of a 70s Jazz Bass. In any configuration, the bass will impress with its sustain thanks to the NTB design and the bridge, which provides additional string tension.

For a guitar that’s nearly 50 years old, it looks pretty good. It has a few scuffs and wear marks, but it isn’t worn out. The biggest visual flaw is the cracked finish around the potentiometers - inside the electronics compartment, there’s no sign that this has damaged the wood in that area. The neck is straight, and the truss rod turns smoothly. The frets have seen some wear, but it’s easy to set a comfortable string action (1.9 mm –- 2.1 mm). The weight is a very respectable 4.55 kg for a guitar of this type. You can reduce this by replacing, for example, the metal cover plate – for some reason, the Japanese used a (perfectly fitting) piece of metal weighing at least 200g there. Equally heavy are the sturdy tuning keys, which – despite their age – hold the tuning perfectly.

I’m selling the bass with its original, though heavily worn, hard case.

Available for testing in Poznań (Poland) ; international shipment won’t be a problem.